Over 1300 street trees have already been planted this winter as part of the council’s Treemendous street tree planting initiative.
The four year programme has already seen around 3800 new street trees planted, with this being the largest single arboriculture investment in Bromley’s history. An additional 200 or so trees will be planted in the coming days as the tree planting season comes to an end. At present, the council currently maintains over 60,000 trees, a number which continues to grow, supporting the visual character of streets across the borough and supporting the environment as well.
Councillor Will Rowlands, Executive Councillor for Environment said, “Our magnificent treescape is something we are all rightly proud of and I pleased we are continuing to make progress in our mission to plant an additional 5000 trees as part of our treemendous initiative.”
Councillor Rowlands continued, “As part of this as well, we are committed to maintaining these trees in partnership with residents as well. These newly planted trees have QR code tags attached to them which, by scanning the code, will confirm what type of specie the tree is and outline other details, such as watering frequency and maintenance, as well as allowing residents to log their own watering and maintenance on the app. I would encourage like minded residents to become a Tree Friend which is a great help and thank you for your support with this.”
Residents can support the new trees in their street by becoming Tree Friends. The council’s Tree Friends work to help with watering, removing damaged branches, and reporting issues with trees, of which all residents can take play their part. To become a Tree Friend, residents can sign up at bromley.gov.uk/TreeFriends, where they can report issues with trees and find out more about how to water them.
Each newly planted tree benefits from an aftercare programme. With all new trees, regular watering is needed to help them successfully establish, especially during warmer weather in the summer months. As part of this, council contractors water each newly planted tree, giving each tree 50 litres or 11 gallons of water per week over the summer months, helping to ensure they are kept in the best health possible
Ends
Editor’s notes - The council currently maintains over 60,000 trees, including over 35,000 street trees, 25,000 park trees, and over 350 school trees, in addition to 552 hectares of council-owned woodland.
For media enquiries, please contact Andrew Rogers, Head of Public Affairs, on 020 8461 7670 or email Andrew.Rogers@bromley.gov.uk.